The pretzel is taking over the American stomach.
Particularly as a holding vehicle for burgers and sandwiches. 7-Eleven has just begun a national rollout of its first pretzel sandwich. And next week, Wendy's, which arguably started the national pretzel mania with its summer rollout of the wildly successful Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger, is about to introduce yet another pretzel product: a chicken sandwich served on a pretzel bun.
Now the pretzel craze that began this summer has extended into fall with 7-Eleven's Diablo Chicken Ranch Sandwich and Wendy's upcoming Pretzel Pub Chicken sandwich. A record 160 pretzel products were rolled last year, vs. fewer than 60 back in 2009, reports research specialist Mintel.
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And this may be just the beginning.
Mintel's new-products guru, Lynn Dornblaser, is even projecting the possibility that some sort of pretzel doggie treat will hit the market. After all, many folks love to feed their pooches dog-ified versions of what they eat themselves. "It seems inevitable," says Dornblaser.
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